Malia Riggs Elmore Autauga News
Photos by Bob Ealum
The Prattville Dragoons will kick off Confederate History Month by flagging graves of confederate soldiers at Oak Hill Cemetery and Confederate Memorial Park this Saturday starting at 8 a.m. at Oak Hill Cemetery.
The public is welcome to join the camp in placing a confederate battle flag on each of the graves. The camp will place over 300 flags this Saturday.
The Prattville Dragoons are a Camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, SCV, which is a national heritage organization where members participate in a myriad of activities from preservation of history and volunteer work to marking confederate graves to commemorate history. To be a member, members must have the lineage of a confederate soldier in their family.
“Our first goal is to honor our confederate ancestry, and secondly is the accurate preservation of history. Here in Prattville, the Dragoons are one of many Camps throughout the state and nation. We’re active locally, we participate in City Fest, the 4th of July and Christmas parades, we also conduct a food drive for AICC every year and we volunteer and partner with the Salvation Army and help with their red kettle campaign,” member of the Prattville Dragoons Carl Wade said.
Wade confirmed that the Prattville Dragoons help maintain several confederate cemeteries in the area, as the Dragoons are part of the Guardian Program as part of their heritage preservation.
“We maintain cemeteries that have confederate veterans buried in them. We go out and keep the grass cut and keep the weeds back and do our best to make it look presentable. We’ve reclaimed Indian Hill as it was completely overgrown. It honors our confederate ancestors, it honors our family members, it honors what they did and their service to their country,” Wade said.
During the month of April for as part of Confederate History Month, the Dragoons will take place in reenactments. On Saturday April 20th at Confederate Memorial Park a Civil War and Living History and Skirmish will take place at 9 a.m.
This event is educational and free to the public, members of the Dragoons, and other reenactors will be there to explain, reenact and tell a part of this land’s history through the descendants of those who fought in battle.
The Prattville Dragoons Facebook page, at “Prattville Dragoons SCV,” should have updated information on upcoming Confederate History Events within the month of April.
